Not But Myth And Legend
by ILOVEMyArchEnemy
Summary: 11 year old Aridessa Swift's parents have died in a plane crash. But not by accident-The plane was purposely sabotaged. But why? And what does a Greek stone, an old legend, and medallion have to do with anything? Then one of her father's inventions opens a door to unexpected adventure. Join 'Ari' as she unravels family secrets and seeks to distinguish truth from legend. NotMarySue.
1. Chapter 1: Of Mystery And Mythology

_Disclaimer: The Lord of the Rings is MINE! MINE! MINE! J.K. I only wish. I do not own…*sobs* ARCHER ELVES ARE AWESOME! :D :D _

_Note from author: Hi! :D This is my first fan-fic, so please don't judge. I'm sorry if it sucks but I am young and unknowledgeable. Enjoy. :D Please review/ follow/PM. Honest, helpful advice is appreciated. Hateful criticism is not. Thanks. : ) P.S. If you happen to live in Lancaster, CA. then please do not be offended that my character dislikes that town. I was born there, so rest assured that I do not dislike it at all. I happen to have very fond memories of that ol' desert. My character, on the other hand, does not, because she apparently thinks it needs more trees. (She loves trees.) Anyhoot, sorry if chapter 1 is kinda boring. It gets better later on, I promise. :D (Middle Earth characters do not show up until chapter 2. Sorry.) _

_ CHAPTER 1: OF MYSTERY AND MYTHOLOGY _

Lancaster, California, 2015

A cloud of golden dust was reflected in her eyes, which were glazed over by painful memory as she stared through the dirty trailer window.

Aridessa did not speak, neither did she move, but only slumped limply in the old orange rocking-chair, consumed by hidden grief and shadows of her past. For at eleven years old, she walked a darker path than most girls her age.

Outside, the wind swept through the desert, causing a whirl of dirt to whip about. Coyotes howled mournfully in the distance, and the girl was struck by a sudden urge to run out into the night and howl alongside them.

Sighing, she quickly composed herself, and allowed her thoughts to drift back to that one fateful evening….

Green grass. Clear blue skies. A garden glowing with vibrantly-colored flowers. Her parents….

She could still remember those words. The last words Momma had ever spoken to her, when she was but six years of age.

"Ari," Momma's voice rung out clear as day within her memories. "Daddy and I are going on a trip. We might not return for a long while…maybe for years. But you need to promise to me that you'll be brave, okay? Be brave for Mommy, all right?"

"But where are you going?" the young Aridessa had asked.

Momma smiled. "You'll know…someday, you'll know. I can feel it. But for now, you have to trust me, all right?" She ran a hand through her daughter's long auburn curls. The red hair came from her Momma's side, whereas her Daddy's hair was a medium brown.

"Why can't I come too?" Ari pressed. She didn't understand why her mother was being so secretive. But her Momma only smiled again. And yet, there was sadness behind that smile. Ari could sense that much. After all, she was a member of the Swift family – and that meant strong intuition and senses.

"I love you honey," Momma had said before she left. "Promise me you'll be good. And….whatever you do, no matter what people offer you or threaten you by, you must do what is right. Remember that."

"What do you mean?" said Aridessa. She felt as if Momma were telling some sort of weird prophesy, which was not unusual for her, but only confused Ari all the more.

"You'll know when the time comes," Momma assured. "Goodbye now. And remember: sometimes you must do the right thing and help others at your own expense."

Then Daddy said a few quick things in sign language – for he was mute. And they were off, leaving their six-year-old daughter with her old Aunt Frannie (Momma's older sister.)

Ari lived with Aunt Frannie for three years, in an old lavender-colored Victorian house in Idaho.

Idaho. The place wherein Ari was born. She had spent nine years of her life there.

But then Aunt Frannie had died of a weak heart, and Ari had almost lost her mind at that point. However, she managed to compose herself. Now Ari lived with her uncle: Mattais Swift, or Uncle Matt (Her dad's brother.)

Uncle Mattais loved living in Lancaster. He loved that desert better than anything else – the lizards, the Joshua trees, the coyotes and sunsets, the wildflowers….But Aridessa felt depressed there. She missed green grass, tall trees, the mountains….plus it was always too windy, and either too hot or too cold in Lancaster.

"Ari?" a man's voice asked from behind her, interrupting her thoughts. The voice was deep, but gentle and soothing.

"I'm in here Uncle Matt," replied Ari.

"Hey princess," her Uncle said, running a hand through his slick, coal-black hair (Which was quite different than Ari's long auburn curls.) "I uh…I've noticed you've been down in the dumps lately. Is there anything you want to talk about? I mean, its okay if you don't want to, but, umm… you know."

Aridessa smiled. "Thanks Uncle Matt," she said, "But I'm okay, really. I've just had a lot of things to think about lately."

Her Uncle nodded. "Alright princess, just tell me if there's anything you need 'kay?"

Ari nodded, and he turned to leave.

"Wait, Uncle Matt?" asked Ari.

"Yeah?" he replied.

"I – I actually, well, I haven't visited Idaho in about two years now," she began, "and, um, I would kinda like to pay my respects to Aunt Frannie and…my parents."

Here Ari paused, recalling that terrifying headline in the newspapers: A Well-Known Scientist/Engineer and His Wife Are Killed …Aridessa shuddered and choked, trying to contain her tears…In Sabotaged Private Jet. "I really need to do this, Uncle Matt. Do you think…?"

Uncle Matt's brows furrowed with concern above his deep brown eyes. "Well….maybe we will. We'll talk about it in the morning okay?" And with that he left the room.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

The next morning was cold and windy. Aridessa awoke to the pale light of dawn gleaming through the small, rounded window above her cot.

She dressed quickly and hurriedly helped her uncle cook breakfast, wisely waiting until he had a satisfyingly full stomach before bringing up the trip to Idaho.

That moment finally came, and to her surprise, Uncle Matt agreed with hardly any persuasion. And so it was settled. They would leave in the next week. Of course, they still had to work out the details, but Ari was unconcerned about that. She was finally going to see Idaho again!

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

I believe it would be rather dull to describe the long road trip that Aridessa and her Uncle took, (although it was really rather exciting in Ari's point of view.) So I will only add one detail about it: they stopped once at Uncle Matt's sister's house to spend the night (Her name was Abby.)

There Ari met her cousin Leslie for the first time: a dark-haired girl with pale skin and twilight blue eyes, who was very pretty in a fragile, doll-like sort of way.

Anyway, Uncle Matt offered to take Leslie along, (and poor Abby just couldn't say 'no' to her daughter's large, doll-like blue eyes. Especially when her husband/Leslie's father, was buried in the same cemetery that Ari was planning to visit.) And so the three of them set out.

When they arrived, after checking into a hotel and visiting the cemetery, they walked around the parks a bit before stopping for dinner at an old-fashioned, Italian pizza place.

Finally, they made their way to Aridessa's dad's laboratory. The lab was cluttered with old papers and inventions. Blueprints and tools sat in scattered heaps upon the tables, and the white-washed walls were lined with computers and control panels. A medal ladder led up to an advanced star observatory.

Ari was wonderstruck. She had inherited a love for science (especially astronomy,) and inventions from her father.

But a still greater passion, was the deep love of the hidden mysteries of time: history, in other words, and literature. (Which she had inherited from her mother,) But mythology most of all. So when she stumbled upon a small room (obviously her Momma's private office,) she was even more wonderstruck to find it full of old books and legends, with maps, drawings, and old poetry lining the faded, hieroglyphic-covered wallpaper.

Ari looked about the room. Suddenly she saw the corner of a brown leather shoulder bag sticking out from behind a cluttered bookshelf.

"If there's one good trait in this world that my parents did not possess," thought Aridessa, "it's a sense of organization."

She walked over to the bookshelf and pulled out the bag, and turning it over and over in her hands, she examined it closely. There were pictures woven into it. Strange runes and writings which she had never seen before.

There were also pictures of rather funny-looking people. Some were a bit short and had long, long beards. Some were even shorter, so that they looked like four-year-olds with adult faces. These wore no shoes, but had excessively hairy feet. There were some who looked like men and women only with pointed ears. These wore long, flowing garments and had the most beautiful faces.

"What's that?" asked Leslie, coming up behind her cousin.

"It's a shoulder bag," Ari replied, "look at the design…it shows some different mythological races. See, I think those must be dwarves, and those have got to be elves…"

"Aren't elves supposed to be short?" asked Leslie.

"No…" said Ari. She frowned. "I don't think so. Some myths say so, but I think others say that their supposed to be like, average height – well, average for us, that is. Or tall, I guess."

"Oh yeah, like on The Lord of the Rings," Leslie said.

"Yeah, only that's not a myth, that's a trilogy that Tolkien wrote," said Ari. "But you know, sometimes I wonder if there really are such things as elves and dwarves and-"

-"Now don't be silly! There are no such things," laughed Leslie, "But I think that bag is just a Lord of the Rings…fan bag, or something, because those guys on it look an awful lot like hobbits."

"Oh yeah," Aridessa laughed, "They are, aren't they? Okaayyy, how dumb of me not to realize that."

"How could you not recognize a hobbit? Uncle Mattais said that The Hobbit was your favorite book when you were younger!" said Leslie.

"Well it was. But then…my parents and Aunt Fannie, um…. Yeah, passed away. And I kinda forgot about hobbits and mythology and stuff after that. I wasn't really in the mood for it anymore," Ari explained, "I mean, whenever I study mythology, it gets me thinking about my mom. Momma loved that kind of stuff. And I get so depressed for some reason. It just isn't any fun doing it without her." Ari's face fell. "It just doesn't excite me anymore."

She dropped the bag down on the ground. "Sorry, don't mean to be all depressing around you, Leslie."

Just then Uncle Matt entered, his eyes scanning the room for his young nieces.

"Hey Aridessa," he said, spotting them beside the old bookshelf, which stood near the back wall. "I found something for you."

Ari looked at her uncle curiously, and strained her neck to see what was hidden behind his back.

Suddenly Uncle Matt tossed a duffel bag through the air and into Ari's arms. "Catch," he said, "I think you'll like this stuff. It looked pretty interesting."

Ari unzipped the duffel bag and peeked inside. The contents of the bag were spilled all over the floor in a matter of seconds. This was one of those times when Ari was just too curious to be depressed by her mother's absence. Just look at that stuff!

There was a large green stone, engraved with what Ari recognized as Greek letters. It appeared to be in a sort of balled form, but she couldn't quite decipher it.

There was also an old-leather-bound book, written in a different language than the stone. Ari was sure she had seen this language before, but she just couldn't place it.

Then there was a gold medallion. Ari held it up to the light, watching it gleam with admiration. It bore the same sort of marking as the book did.

And there was one more thing. This one was written in plain English. Ari looked at it for a moment, then she hugged it tightly to her chest, tears rolling down her face. It was a journal. Her father's journal. For a moment, Ari wondered if it would be wrong to read it. After all, it didn't belong to her. But this was her father's, and he was dead. It was the only thing of his that she had – it was the only thing she had left to remember him by. And technically, it did belong to her, because she was his child, which meant she was to inherit his belongings. It was a long time before Ari finally wiped her eyes and actually opened the journal.

She knew that this journal would be something very valuable to her. But what she did not know, was that the moment she opened that journal, her life would be completely changed. And whether it was for the better or for worse, well, she had no idea about that either.

_*__Hey! :D How did you like it? Remember, it's my first, so please be nice. Anyway, please review! Comments, suggestions, grammar tips, etc….? Or PM me and tell me about yourselves. I like hearing from people. Don't forget to follow! And tell me if you like/dislike my characterssss. Sorry that there is no LotR characters yet, but chapter 2 will have 'em, so don't worry. Anyways, au revoir. : ) (P.S. please PM me and tell me what you think is going to happen. I'm just curious. And if I see a really good idea I may use it – I will give you the credit, of course. I already have the whole thing planned out, but I may change a few things here and there.)_


	2. Chapter 2: Of Doors And Devices

_Disclaimer: Master Tolkien owns The Lord of the Rings books, The Similarian, and The Hobbit. The LotR movie is Peter Jackson's and his crew's. _

_Everything else belongs to me and only me. Including any elves that I made up, such as Esyae and Elidyr. (I didn't make up their names. Just their characters.)_

_Authoress' Note: The Greek stuff in this chapter have nothing to do with Percy Jackson, by the way. This is not a crossover. Also, I fixed the mistakes in the last chapter and changed some of the sentences to make them a little better. :)_

_CHAPTER 2: OF DOORS AND DEVICES_

Meridian, Idaho:

The closing of summer was announced by the faded, scarlet tints that began to dab the once lusciously dark-green trees. The warm floods of sunlight were now replaced by crisp, chilling winds, and the scarlet leaves seemed to dance like scattered flames in the early-autumn breezes.

Ari perched cross-legged against the rough bark of an old tree stump, eyes transfixed on the open book which laid upon her lap. She knew that school would be starting soon, which meant she would have to return to California without any answers on what had happened to her parents. Which of course, was the reason she had wanted to visit Idaho in the first place.

"Whaaaaattchhaa reeaadiinn?" asked Leslie, giggling annoyingly. Ari frowned at her cousin. That was the trillionth time Leslie had asked that day, and each time she asked, she had made her voice sound squeakier and squeakier.

"I already told you a million times," Ari replied, her voice held a slight hint of impatience. "Can't you go squeak in Uncle Matt's ear? I'm kinda really busy here."

"Well I'm 'kinda really' bored here," Leslie protested. "You always want me to go to the park with you and Uncle Matt, and then all you do is read mythology all day and don't hang out with me." Leslie pouted for affect. Her doll-like blue eyes widened pleadingly.

Aridessa couldn't help but to smile. "Oh….fine," she said.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Mattais Swift knelt down beside the old stump, gathering his niece's books in his arms. He looked up, shading his eyes from the dazzling sunlight which gleamed through the clouds, but could see no sign of Ari or Leslie.

The last thing he picked up was a small notepad, which was opened to a writing-covered page. He hadn't meant to read it, but the fact that it appeared to be in a foreign language caught his eye.

Smiling, Matt recognized two English words written neatly at the top of the page: _Greek Translations__. _He had to admit, the kid was a quick learner. They had barely been here for two weeks, and Ari already knew the Greek alphabet, and quite a lot of Greek words and phrases from her mother's notebooks. Jules and Elisa would have been real proud, Matt thought …if only…if only they had never boarded that plane.

A sudden misty sadness clouded Matt's eyes. The girl worked so hard at everything. Tried to perfect herself in every way. She deserved someone to be proud of her. Someone to encourage her; to praise her for her hard work and high standards. She needed parents, but they were gone.

His own brother was gone. Of his three siblings growing up, Julian (Jules) had been the closest. Now all that Matt had left of him was his little daughter. Matt vowed silently, as he had done many times before, that he wouldn't let his brother down again. He would make sure that Ari got the best things for her. The best education, the best discipline, the best kind of people to look out for her….And he wouldn't let her quit on her goals either. He would give her the best, but he would also expect the best back from her. And that meant she had to work hard and accomplish things; to never, ever give up. And Matt owed it to her. To her parents. "After all," he thought bitterly, guilt piercing through his heart, making him stagger under the burden of painful memory, "I did partially cause their death."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

"Hellooo?" Leslie said, snapping Ari out of deep thought. Ari looked up in surprise. She was fingering the metal medallion – the one that had been in the duffle bag, which Uncle Matt had found.

"Hmm?" she asked.

Leslie frowned. "You seem really distracted Ari, aren't you having fun?" The two girls had been busily engaged in a game of tetherball. (Well, Leslie had been. Ari barely seemed to be paying any attention.)

"Yeah," Ari replied. "I just…um, do you mind if I go check something real quick? I'll be back in a minute."

"Fine," Leslie said sullenly. "I don't really feel like playing tetherball anyway. My nails keep breaking." She held up her glittering urple-colored nails to the light, and Ari smiled. She smiled in a way that gave you the impression that she was kind of 'weirded' out. She didn't like urple – a color which was a cross between pink and purple. She did like some pinks and purples, but not together.

"I'll just be gone for a minute," Ari said, before dashing off towards her books. Something had just dawned on her, and she wanted to make sure.

Ari came to the old stump, but her books were gone. She asked her uncle about it, and he stated that he had placed the books in her bag in the car.

"Were leaving in a few minutes, by the way," Uncle Matt said, "Where's Leslie?"

"By the tetherballs…." Ari mumbled, digging through the trunk of her Uncle's faded greenish-gray jeep.

In her hotel room, shared with Leslie, who was now fast asleep, Ari leaned over the low desk. The yellow glow of the lamp flooded down upon the heap of books and papers, as she looked them over with care. Finally, she found what she was looking for.

The symbol on the medallion-it was also written on the front of the old leather-bound book, as well as in many of her mom's notebooks. Scrawled under the symbol, in a thick red notebook, were the words 'Elf Rune.'

But then Aridessa noticed the same symbol again. It was on the necklaces of two beautiful women – on the Greek stone. Ari lifted an eyebrow in surprise. She didn't know that there were elves in Greek culture. Ari looked to see if the women had pointy ears – which would mean that they were actually elleths, not women – but they wore hooded cloaks, and so she couldn't really tell.

She switched on her computer and opened Google Chrome, but couldn't find any reference to elves in Greek mythology anywhere. Neither could she find a picture of those two woman with the necklaces.

Ari opened up her mother's red notebook again. A picture of the stone was inside, and under it her mother had written: '_The earliest carving of Athena and Aphrodite, as found on an ancient Greek stone, which has not yet been seen by anyone besides myself and Jules. I have successfully translated the writing on the back of the stone, which was barely visible, and so had to be heated with a special formula in order to be seen.'_

(Ari looked at the stone then, but the writing was faded once again.)

' _The writing has evidence of the first sighting of Athena and Aphrodite, who in it were said to have come through a strange light thought to be a door to Olympus. I have a theory, that what they really saw was not the goddesses they mistook them for, but that they were actually beings from another universe. They could be women or they could be elves, but I am guessing the second is correct. For they wear necklaces-or medallions rather, with an elf rune_.' At this Ari look closer at the necklaces – or medallions, around their necks. And for the first time she noticed that her medallion looked exactly like theirs.

'_The stone says that they stayed for three weeks before mysteriously vanishing. They spoke in a strange language, thought to be the language of Olympus. After a while, they starting speaking some Greek. Although, why the Greeks' goddess would have to learn how to speak Greek, well, I'm sure that had to seem a little fishy to them. But once they learned Greek, they tried to say that they were not goddesses. But the Greeks did not believe them, since they had seen them appear out of nowhere in a blinding flash of light. And just like that, they vanished again._

'_The reason why I believe this tale is because the picture of the two women, or whatever they are, are also in an old book of tales and genealogies that I own. This book in written in a strange language, the same language as the elf rune is of. In fact, the elf rune is pictured on the front of the book. I happen to be an expert on determining how old something is, and I can tell you that the book is hundreds of years old._

'_It is also, to my utter astonishment, written in the same language that J.R.R, Tolkien used in his book, calling it High Elven. Though how he knew about it, I have no idea. Using Tolkien's book I have successfully translated the old writing. It contains tales that are written in The Similarian plus more. (The Similarian is a history-like book of Middle-Earth.)_

'_It does not contain anything about The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit, for those took place in the Third Age, and this old book only goes to the end the Second Age. Hmm….I do not understand Tolkien. He is making me very confused. I wish I could read his thoughts, because I have no idea why he wrote about it without…well, maybe he knew people wouldn't believe him if he told them that it wasn't just a story. That it was real. I believe that it was real._

'_My husband, Jules, has created an instrument that will scan the medallion, and then scan through earth and space trying to pick up the medallion's trail. Where it came from, that is. He has been working on this invention day and night for more than a year now. The medallion, I should mention, made of a strange metal unknown to Earth. Perhaps it is the mithral that is often mentioned in Tolkien's writings.'_

'_Monday Night: Jules has located the source of the metal and the medallion! And to confirm our wild theories, it does come from another universe. Jules thinks it may possibly come from another dimension. I am so excited to try out his new invention! He has also been working on a way to get to this other place. It will take him years and years, but I think that he has a good lead on how to do it. But, we must travel a lot to get what we need. And plus, there have been some strange men snooping about or lab. They seem to somehow know that we are working on a teleportation device to other dimensions, and we fear that they are plotting something. We will leave early tomorrow morning. But we cannot afford to take Aridessa with us. She will have to stay with her Aunt Frannie._

'_I have being having odd feelings lately. I am worried that something will go wrong with Jules' and my plans, especially with all the nightmares I have been having lately. And I keep getting these intuitions about Aridessa. I have sudden images of her sometimes. I see her mourning our death, (which is really disturbing, since she looks only about a year older than she is now. Will I be dead by next year? And my husband?) And I see her running from shadowy figures, passing through blinding flashes of light…_

'_I'm being superstitious, I know, but I just can't shake these weird images. I feel odd…I think I have the flu, because I wake up feeling horrible each morning, and I get weird pains in my stomach. I think I'm gaining weight too. What is wrong with me?'_

'_Tuesday Evening: We have boarded our private jet. I know why I feel odd now. I went to the doctor's office before we left, and it turns out that I'm going to have a baby! I am happy, but at the same time I worry for it. We cannot cancel our trip. Our home isn't safe anymore. Those men tried to break into our laboratory just a few days ago. Jules has no idea who they are, and neither do I, but we had them arrested. They refuse to tell the officers anything.'_

Ari closed the notebook and clamped a hand over her mouth. She was in shock from all this talk about other dimensions and elves and Greek legends. Why didn't her parents tell her! And how could it all be true? How could….? Where would her father even get the money for an invention like that? She couldn't believe this. She wouldn't.

But despite the shock, Ari was more overcome by the sadness and cruelty of this fact: her mother was pregnant when the jet exploded. Ari would have had a baby sibling, but now they both were dead.

Ari choked back a sob. How could someone kill a mother and her…her…_well how could they_?! HOW COULD THEY KILL MY ONLY SIBLING THAT I NEVER EVEN KNEW ABOUT? She thought. She could not believe that someone could be that cruel – that evil.

"Hey?" a girl's voice suddenly asked from behind her. It was Leslie. "What's wrong Ari? Why are you crying?"

Ari just shook her head, and Leslie put an arm around her. "Oh come on," she coaxed, "I want to help."

Ari looked at her cousin. "I…I have to tell you something," she choked. Then her voice dropped to a whisper. "You can't tell anyone…."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

The next day:

'…_concerning the safety of my newest device, (I have not yet found a name for it,) I have already sent it off to my partner Tomas, in Pleasanton, California. Tomas has been my friend for seventeen years now and is one of my most trusted companions. He has been instructed not to open the crate wherein it is packed until my arrival. It is not yet completed, but when it is it will be the masterpiece of all my inventions. In order to receive the parts needed for its completion, I must travel to London and then on to…'_

Ari knew nothing of this partner of her father's, nor did she know why she felt so compelled to meet him – as well as to see the said device. But after reading that entry, she straightway went to her Uncle to stress the importance of her meeting this Mr. Tomas. Of course, she pointed out the fact that they would be driving through Pleasanton in order to get back to Lancaster, and so it would be right on their way. She also stated that Tomas' phone number, of course, was in her father's Contacts book. And so why not stop by?

Aridessa didn't like to ask things of adults. She didn't like to act all spoiled, saying: 'can I have this? Can I have that? I really want that!' all the time. But this, she thought, was important. Vitally important. However, she didn't tell Uncle Matt what the invention was for, since she knew he wouldn't believe her. And she made it all sound so logical and easy that Uncle Matt couldn't really say no.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

_Middle-Earth, 1424, the Forth Age. Six years after the fall of Sauron._

Though almost in the dead of autumn, summer seemed to linger throughout the gardens of Rivendell. The air was warm and smelt of flowers, and the sound of water whispered in the background.

"'Quel amrun, Esyae!" a girl's voice called cheerfully. She spoke in Elvish, meaning: Good morning, Esyae.

Esyae looked up from her book, pushing her light brown hair out of her eyes. She looked about thirteen, but you can never tell with elves. "'Quel amrun, mellon nin," she replied. (Good morning, my friend.)

Esyae's friend (her name was Liluth,) was exactly her age. They were young in elf years, but how young or old they were I do not know.

"Will you come for a walk in the gardens today?" Liluth asked, (still speaking in Elvish,) "The others are ready."

"I think I will," Esyae replied.

A few minutes later, she found herself talking with three of her closest friends as they strolled along in the morning air. Their names were Amra, Yaereene, and Meriel.

"Is that your cousin, Elidyr?" Meriel asked Esyae.

"No, he does not arrive until tomorrow."

"But I'm sure that is him. Look, over there with Lamruil and Nieven."

Esyae looked. Suddenly she gave out a surprised laugh.

"Elidyr!" she called, running to meet him.

"Hello, my cousin." Elidyr laughed, embracing her. He looked about fourteen.

"It is good to see you again." she said.

"And you, as well," he replied, his deep brown eyes were framed by light blonde hair and darker blonde eyebrows.

Esyae smiled. "Now, she said, pulling him by his hand towards the fountain ledge. "You sit there, and tell me all about Mirkwood."

"Oh it's not Mirkwood anymore," said Elidyr. "Remember? After King Thranduil won victory against the invading orcs and spider mobs, he and King Celeborn met to change its name to _Eryn Lasgalen." (Authoresses Note: Eryn Lasgalen meaning: The Wood of Green Leaves. Sometimes called the Greenwood.)_

"Well then tell me about The Wood of Green Leaves," Esyae laughed.

"Well, it has been peaceful so far," Elidyr began. Esyae, while listening, walked towards a patch of sunlight, which gleamed with mist from the fountain. Elidyr went on, "Except that there have been strange sightings of something coming out from the deep of the woods. We can only catch glimpses, for whatever it is has unnatural speed and senses. There is more than one of these…creatures, we think. Some say they walk on two legs like elves or men and such. Some say they have the ability to leap from tree to tree, with eyes that glow red as coals of fire. We have only seen glimpses, and they leave no tracks…except that the trees are often smeared with animal blood, which we think is their doing. The first sighting was about two months ago…"

Esyae bent down to smell a fresh pink rose, which shimmered as the sunlit mist sprinkled down upon its petals. She did so to ease the unsettling feeling that filled her chest as Elidyr spoke. Suddenly, a gleam of light and color caught her eye, and she felt all the smells and sounds of Rivendell grow stronger for a moment – then it weakened. Everything around her began to fade into a blur of color, and Elidyr's voice seemed miles away. She felt dizzy as it all began to get distorted. Everything started to spin violently. Then as she felt her consciousness rapidly fading away from her, the world seemed to go black, and she heard and felt no more.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Pleasanton, California, 2015

Leslie stood in the attic of a certain Mr. Tomas' house, wondering all the while how she had even been dragged in this. Her cousin Ari had called Tomas to set up a time when they could meet, and discuss a certain invention of Ari's father's. Which incidentally, she did NOT believe would take her into another dimension – or universe, whatever.

"When your dad never arrived, I decided to open the crate. Later on, I met with your dad's associates in London to pick up the final parts. The device is completed. Though it has not yet been tested…"

Blaah, blaah, blaah….thought Leslie. She was tired, and didn't want to hear about an invention that was totally not going to work anyway. Besides, it was already three-o-clock and they hadn't even had lunch yet.

"But what does it do?" asked Uncle Matt. He was staring with great interest at the cylinder-shaped computer; which was topped with some sort of giant ray-gun-thing and weird solar panels. It was about four feet in every direction, and there were wires all around it which connected to other strange devices: control panels, funny-shaped boxes, containers filled with different kinds of glowing energy… Behind the machine stood a large, door-like arch. It was white and silver in color, with gleaming blue veins running up and down the sides.

Uncle Matt was thoroughly confused.

"It's a door to another world." Tomas replied with a grin, "Let me demonstrate," He pulled down two levers, flicked four switches up, and adjusted all the various devices. A few buttons and switches more and the whole thing began to light up in shades of blue and green. The machine hummed and pulsed. Tomas flicked off the attic's light switch, and the room went dark except for the eerie blue-green glow. Switches, humming, levers, buzzing, hissing, pulsing, clicking…. and suddenly a high pitched screech filled the air. The ray-like device clicked and turned towards the arch. The hums grew louder, and something like the sound of a gathering energy surge filled the room.

"Close your eyes!" Tomas shouted, and they obeyed.

In a blinding flash of light, the ray burst out a surge of white energy, which flew towards the pulsing sound of the arch. The screeching grew almost unbearable, and suddenly the energy within the arch flashed and swirled into a purple-gray glow. The glow dimmed, transforming into a deep blue, and the screeching stopped. The room was quiet save for a slight hum and a hissing sound. The energy had stabilized within the arch, and the deep blue glow slowly transformed into a deep blue-green. The energy formed a shimmering ring within the arch, and in the mist of this ring was a dark black void. But occasionally, the group thought they saw a flickering of green light within the void, and sometimes they thought they heard voices from deep within.

Leslie was thoroughly creeped out of her mind. And I literally mean 'out of her mind.' A few minutes later, Tomas had herded everyone into the living room to discuss if they should send some poor animal into the void to test it. He explained the machine's purpose to Uncle Matt. Ari was just about to say that she did NOT want to send an animal into that evil-looking black void, when she noticed that Leslie was not with them.

Leslie was still in the attic, staring wide-eyed at the void. Her lips trembled, and she couldn't look away. "_There's nothing there!_" her thoughts screamed. _"Nothing! Just empty darkness…so empty…why? Why is it so dark?!"_

Suddenly her therapist's voice came back to her: _"Come back here Leslie! You NEED therapeutic counselling! You have to get over this fear right away…before it gets any worse. Do you want to have nightmares about dark, empty voids for the rest of your life?" _

"Leslie?" Ari's voice called from downstairs, interrupting her thoughts.

"I – I'm coming." Leslie called back, then she turned and ran from the room like a ghost was after her.

But suddenly, the energy within the machine became slightly unstable, and some of the energy broke loose. A burst of energy surged out into the hallway with a blinding flash and a hiss, and Leslie, who had been running down the hallway, vanished suddenly. The loose energy dissolved, and the rest of it stabilized within the arch again, leaving no trace of Leslie. Also, two rugs and a lamp form the hallway had vanished, and to this day no one knows for sure where they went.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Esyae opened her eyes, and tried to shake the dark oblivion that kept pulling at her consciousness. It only took her a moment to realize that she was floating in a void of color. But in a moment, all the color had gone. The darkness around her became so thick and stifling that she felt as if some large, dark creature was trying to smash her within its paws.

"I don't want to be jelly," she thought, "I'll give you a blanket if you let me go. Don't eat the tree yet." Wait, what? Esyae frowned and shook her head. "What did I just think?" She obviously was too tired and confused to know what she was talking about. "I have to get out of this!" she thought in despair.

Just then Esyae realized that she wasn't alone. She felt another presence in the void, but she was not afraid of it. Whatever it was, she sensed that it was just as curious as to what she was. They couldn't see each other, but somehow, they knew they were not alone.

The other presence was directly in front of her, Esyae sensed. It lifted a hand out towards her, and though Esyae couldn't see the hand, she knew it was there. Esyae lifted her hand as well. She felt her fingers make contact with something else's fingers. The Something laced its hand in hers, and Esyae could sense its puzzlement. A bond of understanding passed between the two. They now knew that they were both people who had been trapped inside this void, and that each of them was just as confused as the other.

All of the sudden, Esyae felt herself colliding with the other person, as if their minds, souls, and bodies were transforming into one. One person, only one. The Person was now doubly confused. The Person was also scared, and wondered when she would get out of this void. She…The Person was a she. The Person was…Lesyae. Or was she Esylie? After a moment, Esyae felt herself separating from the other person...Leslie.

"Her name is Leslie," thought Esyae, "she's a daughter of mankind." But other than that, Esyae knew nothing of her.

But something was definitely NOT right. Esyae could only feel her mind and soul, but not her body. Then in a few minutes she felt her mind and soul slip into a body that was not hers. Esyae was in Leslie's body! And her own body…well, Esyae sensed that Leslie was in that.

Esyae felt herself blacking out. It all faded away, and she became unaware of even her existence.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Leslie opened her eyes to see a rather pleasant sight.

A boy was leaning over her, concern knitted on his perfect eyebrows. His face was close to hers.

"But not nearly close enough," thought Leslie, her eyes sweeping over his fine facial features, his dreamy eyes and amazing hair. She smiled to herself.

The boy saw her smile and smiled back. He helped her to her feet, then started to say something. A look of incomprehension past over Leslie's face.

"What?" she asked.

The boy looked at her strangely, and began to speak again.

Leslie shook her head. "What's he saying?" she thought.

"Lle tyava quel?" the boy asked anxiously, his eyes once again filled with concern. _(Lle tyava quel: Do you feel well?)_

Leslie just looked at him.

"_Tula sinome_," the boy said, pulling her towards the fountain. _(Tula sinome: come here) _Just then Leslie noticed her reflection in the water. "Hey that's not me!" she thought.

He sat her down and kept on speaking to her, but Leslie just looked more and more confused. Finally he pointed to himself.

"Elidyr," he said, thinking that his cousin had somehow lost her memory.

"Eli…?" asked Leslie. And she thought, "Eliiii-whhhaatt-noww?"

"Elidyr," Elidyr repeated.

"Leslie," said Leslie, pointing to herself.

Elidyr half smiled, puzzled. "Esyae," he said, shaking his head. Then he pointed to Leslie. "Esyae."

"Umm…what?"

Elidyr frowned at the strange words. "Uum wahtt?" he asked.

"Uh…never mind." Leslie replied.

Elidyr's eyebrows shot up. Why was his cousin speaking in this strange language? He asked her a question. Then another question. When she didn't answer, he frowned again.

"_Tula sinome_," he said, leading her towards a nearby building.

"Well since you obviously can't speak English," said Leslie, earning yet another puzzled look from the boy. "Then…YOU ARE HOT!"

Elidyr jumped and blinked in surprise, not knowing why she was yelling, which made Leslie laugh.

"Have to tell the truth ya' know," she said.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Ari heard a sudden crash coming from upstairs.

"Leslie?" she called, running up two steps at a time and through the dark hallway.

"What happened to the lamp?" she thought. And the rugs, she noticed, were missing as well.

"Leslie…" Ari gasped, seeing her cousin sprawled out upon the floor. She quickly helped Leslie to her feet.

"_Mani marte_?" asked Leslie. (Actually it was Esyae.)

Ari blinked in surprise. "What?"

_(Mani marte=what happened?)_

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO Legolas stood at the top of the high tower, the one on which he could see most of the forest from, and looked out at the dark night sky. The stars were veiled by black clouds, and only the sharp, yellow light of the moon was enough to cut through onto the shadowed trees below.

A sudden movement in the forest caught his eye. He fixed his gaze upon it, but only caught a glimpse before it was gone. A dark outline against the shadowed trees: tall, too slender and graceful to be an orc…gleaming red eyes…it moved swiftly, sometimes running like a person, sometimes leaping like a giant frog.

"_En_!" he whispered to a nearby guard. _(En: look)_

The guard peered out into the trees.

"Tomorrow morning," thought Legolas. Tomorrow they would seek out these creatures and discover what they were – and, if they were intelligent, what they wanted.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

"Farwell, my love," the man said. He gently kissed his wife before mounting his horse. "I will be back from the Greenwood in a week or two." And with that he rode off.

His wife, a beautiful dark-haired elleth, held a little baby boy in her arms.

"Hush," she whispered with a smile, "your father will be back soon, my son."

The man galloped across a sun-dappled meadow, his kingly robes flowing out behind him. For indeed, he was a king. None other than King Aragorn himself.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

The group of wood elves filed silently through the still, moonlit trees. The sky glimmered a twilight blue, and the first of the rosy-eyed dawn had begun to gleam over the far, distant mountains.

Tauriel walked behind Legolas, bows ready in their hands.

"Wait," said Tauriel.

"What is it?" Legolas asked.

"Look! There is blood upon the trees."

And so it was. For a good number of the fair, tall trees were smeared with the dark, dark red of blood….

But when Legolas had looked upon it, there came a sudden screech in the distance, echoing through the twilight forest. Something was approaching….

_Hi! : ) Well there it is! I hope you all like it! Don't forget to review/PM/suggest/ask questions. Au revoir mellon nins! :D Thanks to Nimrodel626, E. Peterson, Guest, and other Guest for your encouraging, helpful reviews. :)_


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